Wu Lian, Sun Yan and Jin Yu were stunned when they also saw the result. Then, they looked at Chen Wu, Fei Luo and Wu Tie who voted, thinking the same thing. … what the hell are they doing? They thought and looked at each other with their gazes speaking before they all retracted their gazes and turned back to Chen Wu, Fei Luo and Wu Tie who are also looking at each other.
Chen Wu smiled, breaking the sudden tension and stalemate. He also should be the one to speak since he is the one who proposed this small game. Thus, nobody thinks that there was something wrong with him speaking. "Since the one with neither long nor short stick won…" he said.
Fei Luo's and Wu Tie's ears perked up, same with Sun Yan, Jin Yu and Wu Lian.
"… the voting method for the second one and last one to go is still the same." Chen Wu continued. "We will still gather here after the time allotted to vote for the next person to go." He told them.
Everyone immediately understood. This Chen Wu really is surprisingly sly! They thought. If the first person wouldn't come up, then his identity as the one who had the neither long nor short stick would be exposed. This would leave the remaining two be unable to vote since they would only have one point to vote, and each for their self. Meanwhile, this first person to go took advantage of them to cast their vote on him!
This is definitely a problem, and also the fact that the remaining two can gang up on him to make him spill out what he found out and these two can also not do the task anymore. This turns the table on the first person, as he now was the one who has been taken advantage on! Thus, he has no choice but to return to not expose his identity, so none of these could happen.
"Fck! This is such a clever trick!" the audience exclaimed as they looked at Chen Wu in awe.
"That is my nephew!" Cheng Sheng proudly smiled.
"Ah Sheng, he is also my nephew…" Chen Han spoke.
But, the others only looked at him with pity since Chen Han obviously is an idiot, though a family and brother idiot at that, which is also a good thing.
…
While the people outside discussed, the participants inside are coldly sweating. It was only now did Fei Luo, Sun Yan, Wu Tie and Jin Yu realized that they have fallen in another trap! A psychological trap! They didn't expect for Chen Wu to do this! But, even if they are mad, they can't back out now or they will have to face the other two.
Chen Wu… he is really worthy of being Cheng Sheng's nephew. He is really cunning!
"Deal." Fei Luo and Wu Tie agreed.
Chen Wu nodded, feeling satisfied. "Then, the remaining matter is the amount of time give to fight against xiao Bao and xiao Ling." he said. After that, they will go back here again and vote for the second person to go.
"Two hours." They looked at each other and spoke at the same time. After two hours, it will be noon and they had to take lunch. After lunch, they can go back and vote for the second person to go.
As for the third person… there is no need to go back and they can fight all they want, since the game has already ended. They can also back out, if they think that playing such a game isn't a loss. Or… they already have another plan.
As to why they decided it is two hours… it is because two hours before noon, xiao Bao and xiao Ling return to the forbidden area for xiao Ling to nap while xiao Bao would prepare lunch for xiao Ling to eat when xiao Ling wakes at noon for lunch.
Such a committed person… ehem, sword spirit… he really learned from his master Fei Yin. Since xiao Ling hates to be awaken while xiao Bao hated for xiao Ling to be disturbed… oh, now that they think about it, this is all about xiao Ling's temper, isn't it?
Anyway, they will definitely face the wrath of these two strong sword spirits. But, no risks, no gain. Thus, they have to grit their teeth if they wanted to win! You just can't lie down and win! You have to work hard!
…
"This is so exciting!" Shan Lu exclaimed. Then, he turned to Guo Cheng. "Who do you think will go first?" he asked. The one who will go first is the one who got neither the longest nor the shortest stick.
"Can't you wait until the hour arrives?!" Guo Cheng snapped at him.
Shan Lu immediately shut up and sat upright on his seat.
"What do you think, xiao Sheng?" Fan Wen asked.
"Ah Sheng. What do you think the stick that Wu-er da got?" Chen Han asked Cheng Sheng.
Cheng Sheng looked at them. "How would I know?" he asked. Before any of them could react, he continued. "But, we will know when the hour arrives." He said.
"But, it is just the one who got the neither longest nor shortest stick, right?" You Rou asked.
"No." Cheng Sheng's lips curled up. "We will know who got which, all three of them." he told him as his eyes narrowed with a crafty light.
The others were shocked while Fei Yin smiled. He has a guess to what is Cheng Sheng thinking. These youngsters… do they think they can outwit the smartest scum? They are too young for this wishful thinking!
…
"Did xiao Bao and xiao Ling return to the forbidden area?" Wen Yan asked as they all have gathered.
"Yes. It seems that they have finished attacking all of us, including the Shanliangde Sect and Wu Tie and Jin Yu." Jing De answered when he and Jing Xu followed xiao Bao and xiao Ling.
Xiao Ling has a strange temper. Sometimes he and xiao Bao, who is faithfully following his order, would attack the participants with a certain time interval. But, the next day, he would attack them only at night. Then, the next day, he would attack them from dawn. This made the participants tremble in fright and made them anxious since they don't know when or where will the two pop out an then attack them.
It was only later did they realize that this 'strange temper' of xiao Ling is actually him being unpredictable so that the participants won't be able to find any pattern with their attacks. But, this realization didn't make them feel any better. Instead, it made them feel worse. They feel like they are facing against Cheng Sheng because xiao Ling is really like its master.
No… xiao Ling's temper is worse than Cheng Sheng's! Fortunately, Cheng Sheng became humane this past five years. Yet, 'another' Cheng Sheng appeared in the form of xiao Ling, and it is the worse version of the previous Cheng Sheng! This almost drove the participants crazy!
Anyway, today, xiao Ling and xiao Bao attacked them all in just the morning. This meant that from noon until the evening, they can relax and farm for points to recover their points lost. Although they only grouped themselves in pairs, the physical discomfort they felt after beaten up by either xiao Ling or xiao Bao is of lesser important since it made the points deducted from them lesser now. Thus, they felt comforted, or else they would immediately lose their sanity!
"Has it started?" Chen Su anxiously asked.
"It did." A familiar voice spoke.
They all turned and saw Chen Wu followed by Wu Lian.
"Da ge!" Chen Su and Chen Yu cried and they ran towards Chen Wu.
Chen Wu felt his heart ached when he saw the bruises on Chen Su's and Chen Yu's arms. Fortunately, they were only light. It seems that xiao Bao and xiao Ling still have their conscience on them, albeit not being humans.
…
"Eh?! Chen Wu and Wu Lian returned to their group…" the audience spoke.
"Wait! Fei Luo and Sun Yan also returned!" somebody exclaimed.
Everyone turned and saw Fei Luo and Sun Yan reunited with Xi Bing and Fei Huo.
"It is already two hours before noon… this means…!" they all looked at each other and turned to see Wu Tie and Jin Yu entering the forbidden area.
"It is Wu Tie who picked the neither longest nor shortest stick!" they all exclaimed in realization and cheered.
They watched as Wu Tie and Jin Yu met xiao Bao who suddenly appeared and attacked them while holding his sword in his one hand and a spatula in the other hand. The picture looked wrong but everyone already understood that xiao Bao is cooking for xiao Ling.
Suddenly, Cheng Sheng's eyes curved. "No…" he muttered. "Wu Tie got the longest stick.." He said.